BARCELONA, Spain, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Chamber of Commerce in Spain (AmChamSpain) has chosen the president and CEO of Grifols, Victor Grifols Roura, as the winner of its Global Business Leader Award 2011. This award aims to recognize the international efforts of business leaders, whether Spanish or American, who have contributed to responsible economic globalization.

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Jaime Malet, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain, said, "With this award we want to reward various national business personalities who, like Victor Grifols, have made an outstanding commitment to internationalization and thus to strengthening bilateral relations between the U.S. and Spain."

In the case of Grifols Roura, the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain is rewarding his business leadership and the hard work he has dedicated in his more than 30 years running the company. Since Grifols Roura joined the company in 1973 as general export manager, he has successfully promoted the development and internationalization of Grifols and has put it among the top five companies in the plasma derivatives sector worldwide.

The award ceremony for the Global Business Leader Award 2011 will take place on April 6 at the Madrid Stock Exchange. It will be chaired by the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Miguel Sebastian, the U.S. ambassador to Spain, Alan D. Solomot, and the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain, Jaime Malet, who will all present the award.

About the Grifols group

Grifols has been a publicly traded company since 2006 and has been part of the IBEX-35 since 2008. The turnover in 2010 reached 990.7 million euros, an increase of 8.5%. In 2010, 77% of its turnover was from foreign markets. A major investment plan of 433 million euros until 2012 will ensure the growth of the group.

Grifols is an important member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain and one of the top five companies in the plasma derivatives sector worldwide. Its presence in the U.S. was established in 1990, as it was one of the pioneer investors in this market. Starting in 2002 it began to intensify its strategy to penetrate the U.S. market through acquisitions, since internationalization is one of the main factors for growth. It is present in more than 90 countries and has 23 affiliates around the world.

Grifols is one of the Spanish groups with the highest presence in the U.S., where in 2010 its turnover reached 338 million euros, representing 34% of total group revenues and a growth of 22.5% over the previous year. It employs more than 3,000 people.

Between now and 2012 Grifols will invest more than 210 million euros in the U.S., the world's largest plasma derivatives market.

About AmChamSpain

The American Chamber of Commerce in Spain (AmChamSpain) is a leading, non-political, non-profit organization whose members include over 400 U.S. and Spanish companies. Its membership is composed of Spanish subsidiaries of major American companies, as well as almost all of the companies indexed on the IBEX-35 and a significant number of SMEs from both countries.

AmChamSpain was founded in 1917 and is part of the American Chamber of Commerce, a U.S. organization. With its 3.7 million member companies and its network of 115 AmChams in other countries, the American Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the world. AmChamSpain members combined represent aggregate sales in Spain accounting for approximately 248 billion euros, approximately 24% of the Spanish GDP and generate over a million jobs. AmChamSpain's main objective is to improve Spain's competitiveness, productivity and internationalization, to stimulate trade and investment between the USA and Spain, and to promote the transfer of technology.

The Executive Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain is headed by its president Jaime Malet, and comprises the CEOs and heads of Cisco (Jordi Botifoll), Morgan Stanley (Luis Isasi), Cobega (Alfonso Libano), Indra (Javier Monzon), McKinsey (Alejandro Beltran), Alcoa (Jose Ramon Camino), Damm (Demetrio Carceller), UPS (Daniel Carrera), General Electric (Rafael Diaz-Granados), Microsoft (Maria Garana), Citigroup (Ignacio Gutierrez-Orrantia), 3M (Jorge Lopez), Chartis Europe (Alvaro Mengotti), Manpower (Carmen Mur), Bank of America – Merrill Lynch (Javier Oficaldegui), Lilly (Eric Patrouillard), Gonvarri (Jon Riberas), Pfizer (Elvira Sanz), Burson-Marsteller (Carmen Valera), IBM (Juan Antonio Zufiria), Coram Clairfield (Brian O'Hare),  MC (Luis Ruiz) and the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Embassy (Ellen Lenny-Pessagno).

SOURCE American Chamber of Commerce in Spain